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Using science and technology to cure tinnitus (ear ringing)

For good or for worse ? we'll live and see i guess :)
My thought exactly. Time will tell. Lots of potential but expectedly it comes with risks. Speaking of tinnitus, I started experiencing some symptoms (or at least they could be) and I will see a doctor next week. I thought it had to do with my blood pressure but I'm not sure anymore. It happens seemingly in a random way, cannot spot the pattern/what causes this unpleasant ear drumming.
 
my ears did a little ringing tonight, and it made me think of this thread again... I hope someday we create a super AI that can do science better than a million scientists all at once instantly, and we ask it how do we cure tinnitus

I'm lucky it only lasted for about an hr, it was a bit maddening... I am very careful with loud noises, I even wear ear protection when sweeping the floors with loud vacuum. Honestly I have a lot of sympathy for people who have this 24/7, I genuinely can't even imagine.
 
Honestly I have a lot of sympathy for people who have this 24/7, I genuinely can't even imagine.
Thanks. Although I do have it 24/7, sometimes is just more pronounced and it feels really bad. I guess you just make peace with it, because once you suffered that hearing damage, there's nothing you can do to make it better.
As for precautions, people should apply basic common sense and use ear protection with loud machinery around. Also staying far away from big speaker columns at a music festivals, night clubs, decibel competition cars, avoid shooting firearms as well, especially higher caliber rifles.
Although I still have an extraordinary hearing abilities, having an extra noise layer over everything else is really annoying. I got mine (tinnitus) mostly at a Techno festivals I've attended when I was somewhere between 15-25 years old. The price of stupidity can be too high sometimes.
 
I got mine (tinnitus) mostly at a Techno festivals I've attended when I was somewhere between 15-25 years old. The price of stupidity can be too high sometimes.

I think a lot of young people go to concerts in general and don't realize the long term ear damage they are doing, its really unfortunate. So, don't beat yourself up too bad, because I imagine this is how it happens for most people.

I do know that whoever invents a cure or better mitigation for this issue is going to become a billionaire overnight.
 
I got mine (tinnitus) mostly at a Techno festivals I've attended when I was somewhere between 15-25 years old. The price of stupidity can be too high sometimes.
Yep, nightclubs and rock gigs introduced me into a lifetime of high-pitched buzzing till the end of days. I have since resigned to the idea of tech/science not advancing enough until I die, lol.
Noise-cancelling headphones have been a huge boon - since I've switched to them, ears get tired much, much less.
 
Yep, nightclubs and rock gigs introduced me into a lifetime of high-pitched buzzing till the end of days. I have since resigned to the idea of tech/science not advancing enough until I die, lol.
Noise-cancelling headphones have been a huge boon - since I've switched to them, ears get tired much, much less.

I never thought of ANC helping with this issue since it is internal, this is good to note. @Veseleil Something you might want to look into.

@Dristun I wonder if this scales with the level of ANC? Like if you have top tier ANC from $399 Bose or Sony headphones, would it help your issue even more than say budget tier ANC? @VSG @TheLostSwede this would be cool to test and see.
 
Yep, years of concerts, still go to life is beautiful and many others, but unless it's someone I really want to see, Illenium, Odessa, etc... We stay way back to enjoy the music and experience.

Wearing ear plugs to get life quieter and always when running loud tools makes a huge difference.
 
Yep, years of concerts, still go to life is beautiful and many others, but unless it's someone I really want to see, Illenium, Odessa, etc... We stay way back to enjoy the music and experience.

Wearing ear plugs to get life quieter and always when running loud tools makes a huge difference.

I also really recommend ANC or earplugs when mowing yard or sweeping floors, I don't think people realize how loud a vacuum actually is. It's pretty wild really. No wonder dogs are scared of them usually. Makes sense to me, it hurts my ears too.
 
My tinnitus is a low hum which only really annoys me when things are quiet. I have to either put the TV on or something playing on my phone to get to sleep. I think mine has been induced from neck trauma that I suffered in the first year of covid. The neck/back/shoulder pain is far worse than the tinnitus though.

I can't even imagine how insane it would drive me with a constant high pitch or bell noise ringing in my ears. It's bad enough hearing my GF's voice when she's nagging me as she has a really high voice and I've endured that for 20 years
:laugh:
 
I never thought of ANC helping with this issue since it is internal, this is good to note. @Veseleil Something you might want to look into.

@Dristun I wonder if this scales with the level of ANC? Like if you have top tier ANC from $399 Bose or Sony headphones, would it help your issue even more than say budget tier ANC? @VSG @TheLostSwede this would be cool to test and see.
@VSG would be the one to ask about this, I don't test headphones.
 
I never thought of ANC helping with this issue since it is internal, this is good to note.
The more I'm exposed to repetitive or droning loud-ish noises, the more ringing I start to notice again (it's always there but "get used to ignore it" works to a certain extent), so it gets much worse if I spend 4 hours near a highway than after a short but very loud gig, for example. I have no idea how this works, haha. ANC helps a lot because it's great at just that - eliminating all the average noise and hum. Sometimes I just put the headphones on without any music or anything and it's so much comfier to walk on a busy street. I imagine some might feel worse with ANC if their ears are sensitive to pressure, as you can actually feel it a bit when you crank the NC to the max. I do use the $299 Sony ones, WH1000XM3.
 
I was thinking today, would it be possible to reverse ANC? Like have ANC detect the frequencies that are ear ringing, and cancel it out? ANC works by taking outside noise and matching it, canceling it before it enters the ear, I wonder if there would be something that could be invented and planted in the ear that could "cancel" out the ear ringing frequency... hmm

Just a random thought I had today, thought I'd share
 
I was thinking today, would it be possible to reverse ANC? Like have ANC detect the frequencies that are ear ringing, and cancel it out? ANC works by taking outside noise and matching it, canceling it before it enters the ear
No.

Think about it, there is no actual ringing sound. The ringing is just what you "hear". So why would cancelling the frequency of a non-existent (in the physical world) sound do anything?
 
@Space Lynx
As mentioned above, tinnitus that is completely unconnected to any other underlying conditions is a completely neurological condition. There isn’t anything that a sound wave modulation can do. In cases of tinnitus being a symptom of something else it can often lessen or even disappear completely when those issues are treated. It is what it is. It’s an annoyance that people just have to learn to manage. Not too dissimilar to eye floaters, which many myopic people develop with time. Though, I suppose those are theoretically treatable with vitrectomy (not worth the risk), vitreolysis (iffy effectiveness) and there are ongoing research into pharmaceutical solutions, though I am not sure how that will pan out seeing how the vitreous isn’t connected to metabolic system in order for the drug to reach it. Direct injection, perhaps, though that’s also a risky solution.
 
@Space Lynx
As mentioned above, tinnitus that is completely unconnected to any other underlying conditions is a completely neurological condition. There isn’t anything that a sound wave modulation can do. In cases of tinnitus being a symptom of something else it can often lessen or even disappear completely when those issues are treated. It is what it is. It’s an annoyance that people just have to learn to manage. Not too dissimilar to eye floaters, which many myopic people develop with time. Though, I suppose those are theoretically treatable with vitrectomy (not worth the risk), vitreolysis (iffy effectiveness) and there are ongoing research into pharmaceutical solutions, though I am not sure how that will pan out seeing how the vitreous isn’t connected to metabolic system in order for the drug to reach it. Direct injection, perhaps, though that’s also a risky solution.

Yeah, I get it now. I just had no idea the sound was just in my "head" not actually a sound. I actually did not know this until now.

Human brain is fucking wild. :D
 
Working security at concerts is what has caused my Tinnitus it's bad enough to stop me from getting into a deep sleep so I've taken to having an audiobook playing quietly in the back ground to allow me to ignore the constant ringing I also have hearing loss aswell so hearing aids are also a must have aswell unfortunately but that's life shit happens but I'm dealing with it as best I can
 
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